Thursday, September 30, 2021

Saffron Crocus and Hardy Begonias




They always catch me by surprise, these fall blooming crocus I planted years ago. They're in our little entry garden, under a crepe myrtle and surrounded by hardy begonias (that are threatening to get completely out of hand.) 


Yes, this next picture is upside down. But something about the little crocus framed by the begonia stems appealed to me and I decided to try to paint it. Only when it came out of the printer, the print quality was so poor that I didn't notice I was copying the upside down version. The crocus itself wasn't quite where I wanted it and, anyway, I decided three would be better. But with all that tangle of leaves and stems, it wasn't till doing this post that I realized my mistake. I was looking so closely at the leaves but--well, a classic example of can't see the forest for the trees.


It makes me think of  a design for a very busy wallpaper or chintz.

Still learning . . .


3 comments:

Marcia said...

Do you harvest the stamen for saffron?

Vicki Lane said...

I did, one year. Reaped about a teaspoon's worth when dried.

Barbara Rogers said...

Your painting is an improvement on the photo definitely! I remember the delight of saffron rice at some time or place, and then learned how precious saffron was.